KUANTAN: The 13-day wait finally came to an end for Goi Zhan Feng's distressed family in Bangkok, Thailand.
Thai authorities yesterday confirmed that a body buried with fake identification in a cemetery at Chon Buri's Si Racha district in May was their 23-year-old missing son.
Teruntum assemblyman Sim Chon Siang said the DNA test results were announced yesterday evening (Monday) and Zhan Feng was identified.
"The samples collected from Zhan Feng's remains which were exhumed last week matched the hair samples taken from his father who is currently in Bangkok. The DNA results bring closure to the family," he said.
Sim said Zhan Feng's remains were dug out from a cemetery in the Si Racha district on Sept 7 where he along with Zhan Feng's parents were joined by a representative from the Malaysian embassy in Thailand and a police inspector.
In the incident, Zhan Feng's parents Goi Chee Kong, 50, and his wife Yang Fei Pin, 45, had travelled to Thailand on Aug 30 to look for their missing son before learning that Zhan Feng, had died at the Mae Sot general hospital, near the Thailand-Myanmar border, on May 11.
The hospital informed the family on Aug 31 that they could not trace Zhan Feng's family or inform the Malaysian embassy in Bangkok as he was allegedly admitted on April 11 under a fake identity known as Mun Jun Hong.
Meanwhile, Sim said with the DNA findings revealed, Zhan Feng's parents will travel to the Mae Sot police station today (Tuesday) to lodge another report to change the name on the death certificate.
"The death certificate previously issued by the hospital contained the name of one Mun Jun Hong and now the family will need to provide the new information on the deceased's actual identity . The fake identity (fake name) was allegedly provided by the scam syndicate when they sent Zhan Feng to the hospital on April 4.
"Besides the police, the family will need to update the latest information (DNA findings) to the hospital and secure permission from the Mae Sot municipality office to cremate the body. The body will be cremated tomorrow (Wednesday)," he said, adding Zhan Feng's parents are expected to return to Malaysia with their son's ashes by the end of this week.
He said the family will have to complete some documentation at the Malaysian embassy in Thailand before they are allowed to bring their son's ashes into Malaysia to perform the final rites in Menglembu, Perak.
Zhan Feng, a final year teaching college student, is believed to be a victim of a job scam syndicate and was allegedly abused by the syndicate before he was sent to hospital on April 11 where he spent a month at the intensive care unit before he died on May 11.